Demoralizing

If we’ve learned one thing watching the Warriors this season – it’s don’t go to bed early. Portland did last night. They acted like East Coasters staying up late to check Golden State – clicked off the TV and turned over to fall out at the beginning of the 4th quarter. Everybody over here on Left Coast – Best Coast… knows what happened: Portland went from up 11 when the 4th quarter started, to down 11 when it ended.

They got jumped. They got beaten down. And now, you have to think, they got broken.

How the hell do you pick yourself up from a night when you brought your best basketball, the other team doesn’t have its best player, and you still lost by double digits? Quoting Damian Lillard: “Nights like tonight, they suck.”

He means nights where he’s hitting heat checks, Klay’s launching bricks and getting a Tech, the Blazers are up 17, and Oracle’s silent.

He means nights where everything is going the visitors way, and they STILL lose to these dudes. Game 2 wasn’t just a defeat. It was demoralizing.

This was Portland hitting Golden State as hard as they can, landing at will… And breaking their hand.

I love the way the Blazers got after it. They’ve already showed twice the heart as Houston in this series. They got punked in Game 1, got bent for Game 2, controlled the whole night…. Right up until closing time.

Golden State has that NBA Jam thing going. Where you’re playing against the computer, and it just decides it’s going to beat you no matter what. You could be up 20 with a minute left, the computer will make you lose, and you’ll want to smash your system. That’s the Blazers. They want to throw their controllers. That’s why last night quote, “sucked” so badly.

They finish that game, they go home with a split, maybe Steph rushes back a bit, then they’re in a real SERIES. Instead – Golden State smacks them with the most lopsided playoff 4th quarter in almost 30 years and they’re on a plane back to PDX wondering what the hell just happened.

The same thing that’s happened this season 79 times – the Warriors were better and they wouldn’t die.

Hate to say it to a Portland team that really brought it: But See you Saturday night. It’s probably going to suck.